Dance Mr Leonhart
by Straumoy
Summary: 13 year old Squall is forced to take dancing lessons at Balamb Garden.
1. Move it

Move it  
  
Squall sat down in the 2nd floor classroom. A new year at Balamb Garden, new terms, new classes, instructors, cafeteria queue sneaking attempts and so on and so forth. He never cared for anything aside from schoolwork. Garden festival? No thanks. Christmas ball? He'd pass. The annual new-years- eve "later-than-midnight" party? He had to try hard not to laugh when he was offered an invitation, it was that absurd. Good thing was that since he was still just 13 years old, he was too young to take part in the bachelor auction or the bachelor girl auction. Still, it wouldn't surprise him all that much if some moron popped into the classroom a few years from now, asking if he'd be candidate #1120 or whatever. Couldn't he be granted some privacy? The sliding doors at the far end of the classroom swung open and in the hallway instructor Xu was making merry with her favourite student, Quistis Terpe. Quistis was one of few students at Balamb that actually mastered Blue Magic. It was quite common in the northern parts of the world, but as far south as Balamb it was a rarity. Small wonder Xu trained her day and night. Excellent talent was not to be wasted, but rather polished until it shun and glowed with perfection. That was Garden's policy.  
  
"Well Mr Leonhart, have you decided on which classes to take this year? I just want to remind you that this year you'll be selecting your speciality and your default weapon." Xu said as she walked towards Squall.  
  
He just shrunk deeper down behind his desk, head bent downwards and eyes locked on the computer screen. Xu was a good instructor, keeping business and personal affairs worlds apart, just the way Squall liked it. Come to think of it, he'd never really seen Xu wear anything else but her SeeD uniform.  
  
"So, what will you do then?" Xu asked with a friendly expression on her face. Squall didn't turn up to face her, nor did he speak up. After a moment he just made a small nod towards the screen. Xu could read just as good as the next person, so words where not required as far as he was concerned.  
  
"Gunblade? I must say you're aiming high Mr Leonhart." Xu said with a hint of admiration in her voice. "Is there a special reason for that weapon? It's the hardest to master, you might fail you know, or at the very least make it harder for yourself to graduate."  
  
Silence. Squall's eyes were jumping from left to right, as if he was reading his thoughts through one line at the time. "I need to be strong." He said finally.  
  
"You can be strong with a lance, spear or even just your bare fists." Xu pointed out. Xu was the guide guiding the students; even the one that didn't needed nor wanted guidance. That was their relationship in a nutshell.  
  
"Unless you feel that I'm unsuited for a Gunblade, I don't see why you want to interfere with my decision." Squall grunted with a slight edge to his voice. "Watch it Leonhart, I'm only here to help you, so don't start snapping at me for doing my job." Xu said with a stiff and obvious fake smile.  
  
A silent warning from teacher to student, Xu didn't take crap from a student, not from Squall or even Seifer. Slap at Xu and a truck hit you in return, it simply wasn't worth it. "I'm sorry, but you see my point don't you?" Squall said.  
  
"Of course I do. I recommend the revolver model." Xu replied. Their little argument was now just a fading shadow of the past. "It's heavier than the Hyperion model and is slower on the trigger, but more stable. Not to mention it's far easier to upgrade to other models later on." She supplied Squall with enough info to make his choice. Knowing Seifer, he'd go for the Hyperion. Seifer was always looking for a shortcut of some sort.  
  
"Let me see your timetable then." Xu said, holding out her hand. Squall lazily looked around on his desk and under some papers and notebooks before he handed her a sheet of paper. "You're missing 1 ½ hours Leonhart and since you're going to take Gunblade classes... you'll have to take... lets see... no, no and no." Xu mumbled a bit to herself as she seated herself on the edge of Squall's desk.  
  
He gave Xu's legs a nervous glance. She did have a lovely figure, but Squall quickly swallowed down the hot feeling that began to rise in his chest and looked away. "Looks like you'll be swirling around on the dance floor Mr Leonhart." Xu said finally with a beaming smile on her face, yanking Squall out of his thoughts.  
  
"Dance...?" Squall blinked at her. "Yes, everything else crashes. Either dance until your shoes catches fire or decide on another weapon." Xu replied, returning the timetable. "Why do we even have a dancing course on Garden?" Squall asked as he raised form his seat and began packing up his papers and notebooks.  
  
Xu took a deep breath before speaking. "As a SeeD you'll find yourself in just about any situation imaginable sooner or later. If you want to blend in, as it is often required, you'll need to learn various skills. Even if it's just the very basics." That's the silliest thing Squall had heard to date, but he didn't have much of a choice.  
  
Back in the dorm Squall lied on his bed, glancing upwards at nothing. Dance? Him? He saw himself stiff as a stick on the dance floor. The girls were giving him a hard time as it was. Probably all due to those damn romance novels that they sold in Balamb. 8 out of 10 included a loner coming as some "hot-stuff-lover" to either a far out of reach mansion or tiny village. Story was always the same; boy & girl had no one to fully understand them, so they're lonely, but together they find true love and bla, bla, bla.  
  
How on earth did he know all this? Quistis hardly ever let him out of her sight for some reason. She kept on poking her nose in-between him and Seifer. Though whenever Seifer wasn't around, Quistis would happily chat about the sky, flowers, shoes, dresses, shampoos and lastly books. Getting stuck with her in the Garden elevator was a hellish experience. As a result of that little episode, Squall learned everything worth knowing about love novels.  
  
Being a real life loner made the girls head spinning whenever Squall walked by. If word got out that he was taking dancing classes, this year's Valentines Day was going to be worse than last year. Squall didn't even like chocolate! Only one who both knew and cared was Quistis. She only bought him a vanilla ice cream on Valentines Day and left it at that. Being popular amongst over 250 female students against his will. Squall Leonhart sure had a troubled school life.  
  
He closed his eyes and felt sleep crawling over him from his feet and over his chest as a warm and comfy blanket. For a faction of a second he saw it, a sight beyond what he could stand. A grand feast at the Garden ballroom and he was the only guy there. The girls all gathered around him, each and every one of them kindly asking for a dance. "NO!" Squall shot out of bed as if he'd laid his back on glowing iron. "...No, I don't want their attention." He muttered to himself, leaning his face in his left palm.  
  
After some deep breaths he looked at the clock on his bedside table. 23:56 it said, nearly 1 hour after curfew. It was a long shot, but he had to try, he had to try to haggle with instructor Xu about his timetable. Lining up some decent arguments for his case, Squall got up and headed for the instructors section of the dorm.  
  
"What are you doing here at this hour?" A Garden employee grunted as he met Squall in the hallway. "I need to see instructor Xu. I'm her student, Squall Leonhart and yes, it's urgent." Squall replied loud and clear.  
  
"Are you aware...." The man began but Squall just nodded his reply. He wasn't interested in Xu so there was no need to fear that some teacher-student taboos would be broken under the new moon. After a little back and forth, Squall found himself standing in front of Xu's door. He took a deep breath and let it out as an audible sight before he knocked on the door.  
  
Sounds of someone tossing themselves around in the bed, fumbling after the alarm clock and some grunting and mumbling (most likely curses) followed before a pair of sleepy feet dragged an even sleepier body to the door. The door suddenly got yanked wide open and Squall almost yelped at the sight. Xu stood there with just a big white pyjamas shirt and a pair of bright green panties on her.  
  
"Thiisssh... better be important!" Xu half barked sleepy, swaying a little in a circular motion with her right hand on the doorknob. "Instructor, we need to talk." Squall began. "Umrph...? Squall? What on earth are you doing here? Go to bed for Hyne's sake!" Xu said, rubbing her left hand over her sleepy face.  
  
He froze, his mind went blank and his mouth dropped open. For the first time ever, Xu used his first name. What was this feeling, this... heat building up within him? Why did he keep staring at Xu's mouth? And where were his jacket, pants and shoes?  
  
"Squall... we're standing here, in the instructors dorm hallway... correction, the FEMALE instructors dorm hallway, in our underwear/pyjamas' at... 10 past midnight. If this is a declaration of love, I'm calling the discipline committee." Xu said, landing her head on the edge of the door, leaning on it so that she didn't fall down.  
  
Squall managed with some effort to take his eyes off Xu's lips and looked down on himself. He nearly died of embarrassment at what he saw. No socks, no shoes, no pants (a black boxer though, thank Hyne) and just a simple tank top. "I don't want to take dancing classes." Squall finally managed to stammer out.  
  
Xu opened her left eye and for a moment just looked at him. "Stupid, you have to. Case closed, thank you ladies and gentlemen, you've been a wonderful audience and now I'll go to sleep." Xu said, clearly annoyed and began closing the door. "HOLD ON! What if I train on my own in the training center instead? You said yourself that a Gunblade is hard to master. I'll need all the training I can get, right?" Squall finally managed to get his feelings under control and put his left hand on the door, to keep Xu from closing it.  
  
"You need to be 15 years old to train on your own in the training center. Otherwise, you either have to pair up with another student, SeeD or instructor. Most SeeD's are on a constant move all around the world, especially since this general Caraway took over Desert Prison, I'm not interested in holding your hand when I know there's another option rather than over training, I doubt any other instructor will think differently and you're not a team player by nature. Sorry, try again in about.... 750 days or so." Xu shot him a quick sarcastic smirk and for some reason, Squall's heart missed a beat.  
  
"Now... GO TO BED!" Xu yelled and slammed the door shut with a loud bam. "But..." Squall weakly squeaked at the door. "NO BUTS LEONHART! NOW GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I SHOVE A FLARE STONE INTO YOUR BOXER!" Xu barked angrily. Crushed with a feeling total defeat, Squall slowly walked back to his dorm room.  
  
Breakfast time was neatly over and as usual, the new kid on the block, Zell Dincht, came late and made the usual big fuzz about missing out on the Garden hot dogs. Squall honestly had a hard time understanding what was so great about those hot dogs. To him, they were as plain as they get. Xu and Quistis were going over the advantages with Speed magic and as Squall made eye contact with Quistis he quickly turned away. Didn't know she used glasses Squall thought to himself as he sipped his coffee cup.  
  
"Look who's sitting there, it's Squall Leonhart." One girl said with a dreamy look on her face. "I wonder what he likes to eat and drink?" another whispered back. "Coffee. He's an espresso drinking, cool sexy guy." A third replied with confidence. "Boohoo... Lisa, are you in love with him?" The first girl teased.  
  
He nearly choked at that, but decided to down the coffee in one go before the trio got any creative ideas on how to get his attention. "Good morning Squall, early as usual I see." Quistis smiled shyly, yet politely at him. "Mmm..." He barely replied as he strode out of the cafeteria.  
  
The first official school week at Garden started this morning. Headmaster Cid had his yearly speech to the newcomers. A speech that Squall could boil down to once sentence: "Students, be ambitious." How headmaster Cid manage to say those few words over and over again for 2 hours straight was beyond what Squall bothered to understand.  
  
First stop was the armoury, where they would collect their weapons. Each weapon came with a traveller's case and a maintenance kit. Squall and Seifer got some of the biggest cases and a medium sized bag with maintenance gear. This resulted in a buzzing amongst the other students, yet no one asked either of them what weapon they had chosen.  
  
Seifer bathed his face in the awe struck faces of his fellow and minor students. Fujin & Raijin covering his flanks, like they have been doing for the past 3 years. Well back at the 2nd floor classroom, instructor Anakin took charge and past out some papers.  
  
"These are the reference manuals to your weapon. Be sure to read them thoroughly, as knowing your weapon well might save your life in the field." Anakin wasn't a bad instructor. He knew his subject (weapons & ammunition) decent enough, but the way he treated the male students made Squall sick. Rumour had it that Anakin was homosexual and was married to 5 year older man. Did Squall listen to rumours? No, but Quistis did and she'd be 4 steps behind Squall whenever the class was dismissed. When will that girl ever grow up he wondered.  
  
Fujin entered the classroom and Anakin looked at her questioningly. "DUTY." She said. "Problems Ms Fujin?" Anakin smiled faintly at the slivery haired girl. "NO. SOLVED SOON. DELAY." Fujin replied. Anakin nodded his understanding and as Fujin left the class, he returned to strolling around in class.  
  
"Mr Leonhart, please show me your weapon." Anakin was suddenly standing right next to him. Fine, fine... just wipe that stupid look off your face Squall complained mentally, but kept his standard "don't-give-shit" mask on firmly.  
  
The case locks flipped open with two quick clicks and as Squall opened it, the smell of "straight-from-the-store" leather tickled his nose. A sliver Gunblade, revolver version rested inside. 6 4 inch long and 1 inch wide silver bullets were lined up as tiny soldiers just underneath the gun barrel.  
  
"Well, go on Leonhart. Give it a swing." Anakin urged him with a gesture of his right hand. Squall hated that gesture. It looked so... feminine and totally out of place when a man did it.  
  
He picked up the sword and held it in front of him. Twisting his wrist around, Squall examined the weapon for different angles, tested the weight and how it felt in his hand. An admirable "OOOOOOOH!" rang through the classroom as the other students suddenly noticed what weapon Squall had chosen. "I doubt you'll graduate Mr Leonhart." Anakin said before clapping his hands lightly, thus urging the class to get back on track.  
  
Wednesday arrived and during lunch break, Squall hid his face inside his arms, which rested on the table in front of him. He should be eating, but he wasn't hungry. His coffee had turned to ice since some hot head lost her temper and sent Blizzard spells dancing between the windows.  
  
Seifer & Co quickly showed up, flexing muscles, rank and authority, waving around with his Gunblade as usual. "Mind if I join you?" A light voice spoke up. Judging from the tone, Squall figured that she had been standing there for a while, charging up her courage before speaking. "...Yes, I do mind." He said, not moving a muscle.  
  
It was the same scene as always. Quistis never gave up did she? When on earth would that girl take a hint? She always showed up when Squall least wanted it. Sound of a chair being pulled up, cafeteria plate being placed on the table, the fluff sound of a skirt scratching against the edge of a chair and a chair being pulled step wise towards the table. Didn't she hear me? Sitting up, Squall was taken a bit off guard by Quistis glasses.  
  
"What?" She asked, chewing down some noodles. "When did you start wearing glasses?" He asked her. Why did he ask her that? He should be leaving now, why was he buying time? Oh, right. Dancing class... The lesser of two evils and all that he concluded.  
  
"Since late summer. The doctor says that if I junction correctly, they won't be required in battle so I can still take my SeeD field exam. I just don't walk around with a GF in my head 24/7, hence..." Quistis explained, tapping the left side of her glasses with her fork.  
  
"They suit you... you look really good." Squall blinked for a moment. What the heck was he saying?! Now Quistis wouldn't leave him alone for years! Quistis seemed to be equally surprised as she just gaped at him.  
  
"R-r-really...? Th-thank you..." She muttered, turning her full attention to her noodles with a blushed face. If she suddenly got the wacky idea that he'd be her knight in shining armour, he'd just had to prove her wrong. He didn't want anyone in his life and he sure as hell didn't want to be in anyone else's life either. Why was he building bridges then?  
  
Their eyes met as they both looked up at the same time. As if on cue, they both looked away at the same time. "I have a class..." Quistis said after some long and painfully silent minutes. Afraid that if he opened his mouth he'd ask for her hand in marriage, Squall just shut up and cursed himself for his carelessness.  
  
Nervously Quistis gathered her things, her hands visibly trembling. Why was she acting up like that? Squall's blue eyes caught every motion, he started memorizing the curves on her hands, noticing how carefully polished her fingernails were and again their eyes met. Confusion was boiling inside him. Why? He didn't need her, but why was there a small part of him found her cute? She was one of the top 3 beauties at Garden, why would she need to lean on him? She could pick any guy, even instructor Anakin to be her knight in shining armour.  
  
Quistis had something at the tip of her tongue, but Squall didn't hang around to listen. Thinking to himself that dancing class couldn't POSSIBLE be worse than this, he walked out of the cafeteria. Everyone with eyes in their head saw that Squall was in a very bad mood, so they quickly got out of his way. 


	2. Do you wanna dance?

**Don't get me started on the spacing in this chapter. I've tried like... 12 times to replace this chapter with a more spaced version, but for some reason it just won't work. It's just one of those things I guess. Copy it into Word and space it out yourselves if you must.**  
  
Do you wanna dance?  
  
The entry hall to the ballroom, that was where class was suppose to meet. Squall was the first to arrive and he flumped down on a sofa, resting his elbows on the edge of the back of the sofa, looking up at nothing. What the hell was going on? Whenever he saw a girl he got all these... weird... desires spinning around him like wild Chocobo chicks. Perhaps he was getting sick? Maybe a side effect from junctioning with Shiva? She was after all an ice GF. Could he be getting a cold? Ice, snow, winter... you catch the flu occasionally, right?  
  
He better swing by the infirmary and get a check. He would have to skip class, but that didn't bother him too much. Not to mention that the infirmary would give him a note to show the instructor. Who was the instructor anyway? He'd forgotten to check.  
  
As Squall pondered over what to do next, the door opened and Fujin entered. What was she doing here? Looking for something or someone? Seifer maybe? Seifer had a to retake a few subjects from last year due to a high absent percentage, so he didn't have to worry about selecting additional classes this year.  
  
Fujin took a seat, sitting much like a boy would. Resting her elbows on her knees, leaning forward, legs far apart and face turned towards the entry door to the ballroom. Perhaps she wanted a word with the dancing instructor? Fujin usually just spoke one word at the time, so it wasn't like she was going to have a long conversation. She was a quiet girl, shrouded in mystery.  
  
Squall vaguely remembers the day she came to Garden, 3 years ago. They'd found her outside the southern gate, bound and gagged. Her left eye bleeding badly and it really freaked out the SeeD candidate that found her. After a 4 daylong coma, she came to her senses and didn't say a word, just shook or nodded her head if even that. After a week, Seifer came by. Not to visit the girl, but to get some junior student patched up (their verbal disagreement on Garden regulations had reached the physical level).  
  
From there, the two hit off and Raijin joined them as soon as he signed up for Garden the same winter. That was all that Squall knew. Keeping track over the social gossip (who's in love with who, who broke up, why they broke up etc) at Garden was not something he bothered investing time on.  
  
The doors opened and a young red haired man in a SeeD uniform came in with a lame looking fellow tagging along. He had a large blood red fluffy shirt; black suit pants and his shoes were so blank and shiny that they could be mistaken for mirrors. His semi long hair was put into a ponytail and guessing its original colour was quite a challenge. Though now, it was reddish-pink like in colour. Guess the moron filter isn't working at Garden, Squall mentally sighed.  
  
Fujin on the other hand looked at the stranger with interest in her left eye. "Here you are, Garden will send candidates to your school as we did last year. The first group will arrive on Friday, 14:30." The SeeD said to the stranger before giving him a polite bow and left, closing the door behind him. "Well, well... lets get going then. Come on you two." The man said as he with a rather peculiar walk involving his toes a lot, crossed the room and opened the double doors to the ballroom.  
  
"Pardon me, but I'm here for..." Squall began, yet the stranger cut him off. "Dancing class, yes? I know. I'm your teacher, Sensei." Sensei supplied. This... dork is going to teach me how to dance? Do all dancers look like that? Am I going to end up like... him? Squall felt the blood drain from his face. Fujin walked past him and bowed slightly to Sensei.  
  
"Don't be shy Mr Leonhart, I don't bite." Sensei smiled. Leave me alone... Squall thought, yet his feet dragged him forward until he was on line with Fujin. He followed her example, but gave Sensei a short and barely visible nod of acknowledgment rather than the traditional bow.  
  
"Now, we'll be focusing mainly on pair dancing, as per request by headmaster Cid. We'll cover the basics of most known and popular dances and from there you pick one dance that you wish to learn better." Sensei explained.  
  
"Question..." Squall said, slightly raising his right hand. "Yes?" "How can I learn to dance one or several pair dances with no partner? And no, if you think I'm going to dance with you, all I'll give you credit for is your colourful imagination and lack of sense of reality." Squall grunted.  
  
Sensei gave him a half baffled half amused look in return. "But Mr Leonhart, you have a partner." "Who?" Squall insisted and if Sensei cracked a joke, someone was going to walk out of here with a broken nose. Sensei, still with an amused look on his face, turned slightly to the left and as Squall traced what he was looking at, his eyes landed on Fujin. "Her...?" He asked Sensei for confirmation as he pointed at Fujin with his left hand. Sensei nodded.  
  
A pause followed, Fujin scratching her nose a little broke the nearly overwhelming silence for a moment. "Forget it, Squall has just left the building." Squall said and turned on his heel, ready to walk out. He'd deal with instructor Xu later on. "WAIT." Fujin said, holding his elbow. Squall just shook her off himself and walked out of the ballroom.  
  
Well out in the main hallway, Squall figured he'd head to the quad for some quiet time. Behind him he could hear running feet, but he didn't turn, wait or even slow down his walk. He wanted to be left alone; his entire body screamed those words out through his body language. "SQUALL." It was Fujin, she sounded different or were his ears playing tricks? Squall shook the idea out of his mind and convinced himself that everyone sounded different whenever they ran and spoke at the same time, or shouted as it was in Fujin's case.  
  
It was a sunny day, the sun being pleasantly warm and a gentle breeze tickled Squall's face as he sat in a bench allowing the calmness of the day sweep away all his troubles. The sound of someone out of breath breathing and slow footsteps shattered the peace and as the fragments of the broken peace ran away like frightened rats, Squall opened his eyes and saw Fujin coming down the stairway.  
  
"Forget it, I'm not dancing. Not with that jerk as a teacher and... you as my so-called partner." Squall pouted. Fujin would probably hate him for it, but he didn't care. He'd rather be hated than loved. Fujin stood over him, her 5' 8" figure looked quite intimating, especially with the sun behind her, creating a dark shadow effect on her face. She seemed to hesitate, uncertain of what to say or do next.  
  
Squall looked away, not caring. No matter what she did next, he'd just suck it up and move on, like he always did. Then it came, loud, stingy, strong and totally unexpected. Fujin slapped him, full palm on his left cheek with all her might. "BASTARD!!" Fujin screamed. She had a rather high voice when she spoke normally, but now she was screaming on the top of her lunges. It almost left a ringing sound in Squall's ears. She took a deep, hic-like breath, as if keeping from breaking down in tears before she ran away. Rubbing life back into his burning cheek, Squall was left in total amazement. "That's a first..." he said to himself.  
  
Squall sat in the infirmary bed. After the shock of getting slapped by a girl for the firs time in his life died out, he'd decided to go to the infirmary as he originally planed before meeting Sensei.  
  
"There always seem to be 10.000 things on your mind." The nurse apprentice said with a gentle smile while she stashed away some Esuna spells. You don't know me... "What happened to your cheek? Did you hurt yourself during training?" the nurse asked.  
  
Squall knew she was just eager to do a good job, but she picked the wrong boy to play nurse and patient with. "...Non of your business." He grunted. "Oh, don't talk rough to me, mister. And as a matter of fact, it IS my business. Now, are you going to talk or am I have to tickle it out of you?" The nurse gave him a wicked smirk.  
  
Touch me and they won't be able to count body parts ... "Well?" The nurse asked again, a little more authority in her voice this time. "Will this be between the two of us?" he asked her. "If you wish." She replied. "Yes, I'd like that." Squall answered.  
  
It took him a moment to choose his words, but he did finally speak up. "I got slapped by a girl." The nurse shook her head slightly as she said: "Oh you teenagers... riding the roller coaster of puppetry" She almost laughed. "Did you two break up?" she asked then.  
  
"...Not really. She wanted me to be her dancing partner in dancing class and I declined." Squall explained. The nurse snorted. "That's understandable. Hell, I'd slap you myself if I weren't on duty."  
  
The automatic doors to the infirmary opened and a pair of angry fast moving feet quickly turned the corner. It was Xu and she was as pissed as a sorceress without her knight. "Nurse... Give us some privacy." She said with an ice-cold voice, her eyes pierced into Squall's face.  
  
The nurse quickly left the infirmary, obviously glad to escape Xu's glare. "Mr Leonhart, I'm going to ask you something very important and I'm going to ask you only once, so pay attention and for Hyne's sake think before you answer, understood?!" Xu words snapped and cracked like a Red Scorpion whip, so Squall just quietly nodded his understanding.  
  
"JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!!?" Words of outrage rang through the walls and nearly shock the windows out of their frames. "I don't understand the question..." Squall replied honestly. Xu bent her fingers like claws and glared at the roof while she tried hard not to scream. "FUJIN!! She's locked herself up in her room, she's crying her eye out and not even Seifer can get through to her." Xu finally barked out. "Not my problem." Squall shrugged. For a moment, he thought that Xu would actually harm him, because she sure looked like it.  
  
"No Fujin, no dancing, no dancing, no Gunblade, no Gunblade, no graduation, no graduation and you'll be kicked out of Garden. ERGO.... It IS your problem, so get out there and solve it or start packing!" Xu spat out and finished of by pointing a finger at the infirmary exit.  
  
Balamb Garden female student dormitory, Squall had never been there. He'd ask Xu to show him the way, but she just glared at him. He figured she was disgusted with his behaviour and didn't feel like pressing his luck any further.  
  
Room #8177 was Fujin's room. Her roommate, Lisa was out on a fieldtrip and wouldn't return until late next week. Squall locked the door leading to the hallway, giving him the privacy he needed to pull this one off. The whole situation was absurd, yet here he stood ready to plead with a girl so that he could become a SeeD.  
  
Didn't he promise sis not to depend on anyone? What would he do? Where did he want to start? He didn't even know what to say. After a while of pondering, Squall leaned on the door and listened. The door was quite soundproof. Not 100%, but still. He could barely make out what sounded like sobbing.  
  
"Fujin..." He began. The sobbing stopped for a moment. "LEAVE!" Fujin shouted with a tear broken voice. What do the guys in those stupid romance novels say? "Say, Fujin... do... do you wanna dance?" He'd spilled the beans. From this point there was nothing but hours with begging, pleading and crawling. Anything, do anything to become a SeeD Squall thought to himself.  
  
The door flung open and Fujin leaped into his arms. Being taken completely off guard, Squall lost his balance and fell flat on his back with Fujin on top. Opening his eyes, Squall noticed that Fujin's face was quite close to his own, not to mention that he felt something hot and wet on his lips.  
  
It took him a moment, but when he finally figured out what the heck was going on, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. "DANCE!" Fujin beamed like the sun rising, her eye glittering with happiness and she hugged him tightly. Okay... you can wake me up now. Please? This is a dream... OWH! No, it's not a dream... this is real... I yearn to die... 


	3. Put on your dancing shoes

Put on your dancing shoes  
  
Several weeks had past since Squall made peace with Fujin and one would think that things had worked out rather well since then. Truth was closer to the opposite, at least as far as Squall was concerned. Fujin was nearly overeager to learn how to dance and Sensei's encouragement didn't make things any better. As a SeeD candidate, Squall didn't get paid on a regular basis. True he did get some pocket money (1000 gil each year, 500 per semester), but it was far from a regular SeeD payment. So when he was asked to buy a pair of decent dancing shoes at the steep price of 850 gil, he nearly punched Sensei in the face.  
  
Quistis was busy with her studies, since her field exam was closing in, while Zell still overslept every morning, thus missing the hot dogs, Seifer was his usual ego-super-asshole-of-Garden self and aside from desperately trying to keep his dancing lessons a deep secret, Squall's own routine wasn't that much different from last year. Waiting in the ballroom for class to start as usual, Squall saw Fujin coming in. She was a good girl, although she did seem odd at times.  
  
Along with Seifer, she was very quiet, just an observer, taking in every movement and every word. When looking at her while Seifer gave a lecture (or harassment as many called it) to some student, Squall noticed that Fujin was like a different person. She never wore that expression whenever she was away from Seifer. "TRAIN." Fujin said, nudging Squall's jacket a little. "We've gone over this dance several times already. We both know it by heart. Why do you want to train more?" Squall asked back, trying his best to sound civil. "NEW SHOES." Fujin said, showing Squall an open shoebox. They were black and shiny, open in the toe and straps going all over around the ankle.  
  
"Fine, fine... just once though." He sighed in defeat. Fujin nodded and changed her shoes. She got up and took the starting position, holding out her arms. Although they'd done this dance many times before, Squall still felt awkward whenever holding a girl so close. Shutting it out didn't help, as dancing required full attention and focus, especially for newcomers. After a few steps swirling around rather gracefully, Squall noticed something was quite different. He and Fujin had the same height, but why was she suddenly taller than him? Seeing hints of bafflement on his face, Fujin said: "HIGH HEELS." Squall's embarrassment just made another height record. For some reason, dancing with a girl that was a few inches taller than him made him feel bad.  
  
"Good, good!" Sensei came in, slightly clapping his hands. "Both of you are so good students. Fast learners and natural in your movements." He was almost moved to tears. What a wimp, Squall thought as he gave Fujin a slight bow, thanking her for the dance. "Now we'll move on to a new dance. I think this one will be more adequate for your level." Sensei said as he took out a marking pen and began drawing out the steps on the floor.  
  
"FAMILIAR." Fujin said, pointing at the drawings. Squall frowned and looked down at the steps. It looked like Sensei was planning on getting both of them killed. "What kind of dance is this?" He asked. "DIRTY." Fujin said. "Dirty? Do have to dance in mud or something?" Squall asked, with confusion on his face. Sensei chuckled and shook his head. "It's called 'dirty' because its... well, very sexually charged in its movement and rhythm." He explained. Squall was dumbstruck. He had to act... and move... sexy to a beat, with Fujin?  
  
"After you've learned this one, you can pick a dance you want to learn more about, fine tune your skills." Sensei mumbled as he overlooked his drawings to make sure he had it all right. Squall glanced over at Fujin to see if she had any objections to this new dance, but it was more on the contrary.  
  
"Okay, Squall come here and stand like this." Sensei pointed at the black footsteps on the floor and showed Squall the pose. Doing as he was told, Squall figured this was going to be a long lesson. "Good, Fujin, stand in front of him and... hang on, you'll need a skirt." Sensei said, holding her shoulders. Fumbling around in a crate that stood next to the entrance door, Sensei found a bright pink skirt. "Just put it on over your pants." He explained as he handed her the skirt.  
  
Fujin shaking standing on one foot tried to put on the skirt, while Squall stood beside her, not making any effort in helping her keeping her balance. After 3 nearly fall, Fujin was ready. "Now, Fujin stand with your back to Squall and hold your left arm around his neck. No, no... closer. Squall, hold her left wrist with your left hand." Sensei moved around the couple, adjusting their position while babbling about the passion of the dance.  
  
The class dragged on for what seemed like 5 lifetimes, if not even more. The beat was too fast for Squall's comfort, the movements weird and he felt right out silly as he and Fujin stumbled around on the dance floor. "Okay, we'll just take this last spin, grab and hold and then we'll call it the day. You guys are doing well for your first time." Sensei said smiling. He explained what they were supposed to do while demonstrating the key poses.  
  
As Squall and Fujin made a right turn, he was to hold Fujin in his right hand and "roll her out like a rope" as Sensei put it. At the peak of the roll out, Squall was supposed to gently yank Fujin back, "thus rolling her back into your arms". Fujin would be doing a lot of spinning, both clock and counter clock wise. Squall inwardly prayed that she wouldn't vomit out of dizziness.  
  
The music started and Squall moved around with Fujin in front of him. The turn came, Squall let go of Fujin with his left arm, which rested rather nervously around her waist and "rolled her out". With a slight yanking motion of his wrist, Squall "rolled" Fujin back. Unfortunately, Fujin gained a bit too much speed on her roll in, so instead of stopping, she smacked right into Squall's chest. He felt two soft bulges press against his chest and at that instant it felt like his face would explode because of all the blood rushing to his head. His heart was racing like a Timber train going wild and for a moment Squall thought he was going to have a heart attack. "Okay, you two love birds. That's it for today. See you next week." Sensei said, turning off the stereo. Love birds...?  
  
Quistis returned form a Blue Magic seminar at Trabia Garden and was eager to get back to her studies. Field Exam was closing in fast and written tests were lined up like pearls on a string. Hopefully, Squall and Seifer had behaved themselves while she was gone. That wasn't very likely she chuckled to herself.  
  
Speaking of the devil, Seifer and Squall was sitting in the cafeteria, arm wrestling with each other. As usual there was a crowd gathered around them, Fujin and Raijin flanking Seifer as usual. That new material arts student, Zell, was really cheering Squall on. He sounded like 5 people in 1, quite amusing. It seemed to be a draw.  
  
Their hands were trembling with the tense muscles, both faces locked in a state of iron hard determination. Seeing some instructors talking with headmaster Cid, Quistis decided to break it off before the two got into problems. Seifer was the head of the disciplinary committee and Squall a prodigy student. She doubted that the headmaster would approve of such childish competition amongst such high profiled students.  
  
"Knock it off you two, the headmaster is coming this way." She said, but neither of them listened. In fact, they didn't even give her a glance. "Squall, the headmaster is coming!" Zell suddenly shouted out louder than the rest of the crowd. For a moment, Squall lost his concentration and with a loud bam Seifer crushed his palm over Squall's. "You still need to train harder, Leonhart." He coldly smirked as he took the glass of water Raijin offered him.  
  
Crossing his arms across his chest, Squall looked down on the floor in silence. The air felt like someone was summoning Quezacotl, it was that tense. Everyone was eyeing Squall, waiting him for his next move. Suddenly, his eyes shot up and looked at the clock. "I have a class..." He mumbled and walked away. Quistis was probably the only one that heard it, yet it didn't make much sense.  
  
Squall had a class now? What kind of class could that be? "Squall, what kind of class do you have now?" She asked him as they walked around in the main hall. "Leave me alone, Terpe." He grunted, not turning. Curios, she was left with dozen of questions. Perhaps Xu could give her an update on recent events?  
  
Xu was standing by the coffee machine, trying to make it work. That poor piece of machinery was as old as Hyne Herself. All the countless of kicks and punches to make it work faster had taken their toll on it. It was on the verge of self-destruction. "Oh afternoon Ms Terpe. How was the seminar?" Xu asked as soon as she noticed her. "Interesting. I wish I could learn Mighty Guard..." Quistis replied. "Oh you will, just take your time." Xu smiled back. "Say, what classes are running now?" Quistis asked casually.  
  
"None, aside from one." Xu replied, sipping her coffee. She quickly removed her lips from the cup, cursing the foul taste of the coffee. "Which class is that?" Quistis knew that she'd most likely blow her innocent cover, but she was really eager to find out what classes Squall was taking. "Dancing classes." Xu replied, pouring the coffee down a near by sink. "Squall is taking dancing classes?" Quistis found that so hard to believe that she thought Squall just had lied to her to be left alone. "Yes, he had to since he insisted on having a Gunblade as a weapon." Xu said as if it was a well- known fact.  
  
Squall looked at the watch on the wall. Fujin was 15 min late, so was Sensei. What's going on? Did they get sick? No, Fujin was watching Seifer in the cafeteria. Maybe Sensei just got sick? If that was the case, he'd be told at the homeroom meeting. "SQUALL." Fujin stood in the doorway.  
  
At first glance, she looked just like she did the day before, but it didn't take long before he noticed that Fujin's outfit was... daring to say the least. She wore a navy blue swimsuit and had a brightly coloured, semi transparent cloth wrapped around her hips as a skirt. The swimsuit didn't hide the fact that Fujin was indeed a girl growing to become a woman as it had a deep cleavage and a pair of diamond shaped holes over her stomach. At the center of the lowest diamond hole was her bellybutton. Squall turned his flushed face away in embarrassment. Why the heck was she dressed like that?!  
  
"MEET AT GATE." Fujin insisted before she added: "BRING TOWELS." They were going out on a swim? In a state of nearly total confusion, Squall managed to ask a member of the dormitory committee for some spare towels and headed for the main gate. "Sorry that I forgot to tell you about today's class." Sensei said a bit sheepishly while cleaning his sunglasses to hide his embarrassment (it wasn't working). "...Whatever. Why are we going to the beach?" Squall asked, clearly not fond of the situation.  
  
"We'll be practising the lift today and the best place to do that is in water." Sensei explained. "Lift...? What lift?" Squall asked, sending a cold glare at him. "You lift Fujin up in the air, holding her hips over your head, like this." Sensei showed him the pose. "Once you find the point of balance, you'll be able to do it on land." He assured Squall. "We'll be doing that... on the dance floor?!" Squall yelped in disbelief. Both Fujin and Sensei nodded.  
  
Despite some rather harsh objections from Squall's side, the dancing class proceeded as planned. Well at the beach, Sensei talked them through the principle of the move and told them to give it their best shot (thumbs up). Wading out in the semi cold water, Squall couldn't believe he was doing this. If anyone from Garden saw this, he'd lock himself up in his room for several weeks or just die of shame on the spot.  
  
Glancing at Fujin, he noticed that she was happy as a clown, smiling, slightly giggling to herself as the waves tickled her belly and her watery reflection making funny faces on the rippling surface. "OKAY! SQUALL, PLACE BOTH HANDS ON HER HIPS! NOW FUJIN, WHEN SQUALL STARTS TO LIFT YOU, YOU JUMP UP. THEN..." Sensei was barking orders from the shore (he couldn't swim and has been terrified of water after a rather nasty episode involving Leviathan).  
  
After listing to Sensei's barking for a few minutes, they gave it a go. Squall figured that this was pretty much as stupid as it got. He lifted and Fujin jumped up. "GOOD, GOOD! NOW HOLD IT!" Sensei was almost dancing with joy. Squall felt his feet slipping in the soaked sand and he was tipping backwards.  
  
"Oh crap..." He cursed before both he and Fujin disappeared inside a large watery explosion. Squall came up first, coughing and spitting out salt water while rubbing his eyes. He hated this already. Fujin came up as well and in-between her coughing, Squall could have swore he heard laughter. "AGAIN." Fujin said, smiling as if she had the time of her life.  
  
Quistis was wandering around along the beach, doing some cure magic stocking. Thanks to Seifer, the infirmary was running a little low and it wasn't uncommon for them to ask a student to collect more healing spells. That way, Garden killed 3 birds with 1 stone; Student gained battle experienced, student grew more used and skilled in drawing and stocking magic and the infirmary got the goods they needed at little, if any expense.  
  
What she really wanted though was to learn White Wind. She'd seen a demonstration of it on the seminar at Trabia Garden and after that, she'd more less grown convinced that it was by far more handy than Cure spell. Seeing a rather odd looking gentleman standing on the beach and shouting loudly out at the sea, Quistis wondered what was going on.  
  
Perhaps someone was drowning and needed help? She was about to run down to the man when she noticed an even stranger looking pair splashing around a little out at sea. At first she thought that she needed to get her eyes checked (again), but after a few moments there was no doubt. That was Squall all right; trying again and again to lift some girl into the air. Who was that girl? Quistis grew even more curious and sneaked up a little closer to get a better look. Silvery hair, dressed in blue and with a patch over her right eye.  
  
FUJIN?! Fujin and Squall... they were a couple? "DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! I'm done with this crap! I need a break." Squall shouted out, splashing water around him angrily. Crouching behind some bushes, Quistis hid and listened on to their conversation. She knew it was impolite, even flat out rude, but she couldn't help herself. She just had to know more.  
  
"FUN?" Fujin asked, still smiling. "NO." Squall pouted back, imitating Fujin's way of speech. "WHY?" She asked back, picking up a towel. "It's cold, wet and totally pointless!" Fujin's face grew troubled and worried. Clouded with concern, she sat down and dried her hair for a while.  
  
"SEIFER BETTER." She said after watching some seagulls fly by. "He's a better dancer than I am?" Quistis drew a quick breath and held it. So they were dancing after all. Fujin nodded. "GENTELMAN." Fujin said. "DISAGREE." Squall said, again imitating her way of speech.  
  
There was a long pause. "YOU LIKE?" Fujin said, for the first time sounding shy, almost like a girl. "Like what? Dancing? No, I'd rather be without it." Squall admitted. Fujin shook her head. "LIKE... ME." Again, Quistis let out a small gasp. Thankfully, the wind and the waves sounded louder than her gasp.  
  
"Leave me alone Fujin, I don't want to be with anyone." Squall said in a tone that clearly meant that the subject was closed. "Okay you two, ready for the second round?" Sensei came from out of nowhere and suddenly froze. Even he sensed the weird atmosphere between Squall and Fujin. "Class dismissed." Squall said as he packed his stuff and walked back to Garden.  
  
A few days later, Squall was struggling with a soda machine in Balamb when Zell came by. "S'up Squall?" He greeted the loner cheerfully. Squall gave the machine another hard bam with his fist before he, without turning, said: "Leave me alone, I'm seriously not in the mood." Squall had been asked by Sensei if he could drop by his school. He'd tried to tell Sensei that his timetable was so stuffed right now that there was no chance he could spare a single second.  
  
Xu on the other hand, told Sensei a different story. She even postponed his status magic test so that he could help Sensei out. Why didn't he ask Fujin? She loved dancing, so why him? Squall hated to have things forced upon him, but he was in no position to object. Follow instructions blindly, that was the code of SeeD.  
  
Knocking on the back door of Sensei's school, Squall tried to brace himself for the worst. "Come on in Squall!" Sensei greeted him and invited him in. Leading Squall to the main room of his school, Sensei opened the door wide and nearly pushed Squall inside. It was a dancing studio. Along the walls were wooden bars to hold on to, probably used a lot during ballet classes, a rather fancy and expensive looking stereo system stood in one corner and one wall was covered with a huge mirror. The floor and walls were all white and the room was crowed with... girls.  
  
"Mind telling me what this is all about...?!" Squall hissed with clenched teeth. "Demonstration class. These are all from Galbadia Garden. They're planning on a big event, Garden festival or something and they asked me to help them out." Sensei explained. "What do you want me to do?" Squall asked as he got quite uncomfortable since all the girls eyed him from head to toe as if he was a piece of live size candy figure or a movie star. "Give them lessons." Sensei said simply. "Forget it." Squall said bluntly and left. 


	4. Dancers in the dark

Dancers in the dark  
  
The time came for Squall to pick the dance he wanted to specialize in. He wanted something simple and clean, nothing fancy. Scrolling through the list of dances he'd learned since the beginning of his semester, Squall stopped at "W" for waltz. It was plain and simple, in fact as simple as one could get it. All you had to do was spin around and avoid tripping over your partner. Yet, that was perhaps a bit too plain for him? He should be aiming just a little bit higher he thought. No way he was going to specialize himself on "Dirty Dancing", his back would break if he had to lift Fujin up one more time.  
  
How about the traditional Balamb waltz? It was a little more advanced version of the regular waltz, yet it wasn't too hard to learn. It sounded like a plan. Hopefully Fujin would agree to help him out. If not he'd be in big trouble, because then he HAD to crawl to Sensei and ask if he could hook him up with one of the girls from Galbadia Garden.  
  
The phone rang, making Squall jump slightly out of his skin. It was probably just Seifer sitting in his room, bored and wanting to gloat over something to Squall. The phone kept ringing. Maybe it was Xu? Had the results on his status magic test come in? Squall picked up the phone. "Leonhart." He said loud and clear. "MEET." It was Fujin in the other end. "Fair enough, where?" He replied. "ROOM." Fujin said and hung up. She wanted him to come to her room? He'd only been there once and since he had a few bad memories from that room, he wasn't too keen on going back so soon. Squall would have dialled her up again, but he didn't know her number and his pride forbade him to ask the Garden staff for help. After some thought, he picked up his jacket and headed for the female student dorm.  
  
Wandering down the long hallway of the female dorm, Squall drew a lot of attention to himself. It made him feel uncomfortable the way each and every girl looked at him like he was some pop star. "Excuse me..." A short, blond haired girl with big green glasses asked him. "...Co-could you check these for me?" She said, holding out her test book and bowing deeply to him. "..." Squall just looked at her for a moment and then walked on.  
  
After several similar encounters with girls of every kind, Squall finally found Fujin's room. Lisa was sitting in the tiny-shared room, browsing through her tactics and strategies book when she by chance noticed Squall standing in the doorway. She just froze solid as if she'd been hit by a Break spell. Ignoring her, Squall walked up to Fujin's door and knocked. "ENTER." Came from behind the door. As soon as he opened the door, the sent of freshly picked flowers tickled his nose.  
  
Her room was just like any other, though much as he suspected, it didn't have that girlish touch to it. Fujin stood over her bed, looking down at a piece of cloth. Studying it closer, Squall noticed that it was in fact a dress. "You wanted to see me?" He began. "FINAL DANCE." Fujin replied. "Straight to the heart of things, huh? Well, I'd like to go for the Balamb waltz." Squall said, spreading his hands. "TANGO." Fujin said. "Do we have time to learn both?" Fujin nodded. "EASY." She said.  
  
One day glided into the next, days turned to weeks and before he knew it, Squall was only two days away from his dance exam. He and Fujin had been dancing at every chance that they got, mainly because she insisted on nothing less than perfection as far as her tango skills went. Much to his own amazement, Squall found himself enjoying the time he spent on the dance floor. If nothing else, it was a way to disconnect and just... well, flow with the music.  
  
Since the Balamb waltz was so easy in nature, and being a natural fast learner, Squall quickly learned it by heart. Fujin wasn't a slow learner either, though once she got the basic idea; she did experiment around a lot until she found a style of movement that she liked, while remaining true to the basics. Sensei had told them to see him at his dancing school if they had any questions or needed a second opinion.  
  
Truth be told, neither Squall nor Fujin felt that they needed any further guidance. This was going to be their dance, their moment. They both knew it and didn't seem to care. Although they hadn't spoken about it, in public, in private or otherwise, the agreement was there nevertheless. Squall spun around once more, holding his arms stiff as sticks (as it was required in a tango), Fujin elegantly following his lead. They weren't training in the outfits that they would wear on the exam (it had a dress code), but none of them seemed too concerned that a different piece of clothing would interfere too much with their dance.  
  
The details around the exam was sketchy, all they had to go on was when, where and how to be dressed. Since Squall wasn't a SeeD yet, he'd have to wear his SeeD candidate uniform (his budget didn't allow him to rent, let alone buy a suit). Fujin on the other hand had a lovely black dress that she wanted to wear. The music stopped and Squall let go of Fujin, bowed his thanks for the dance and took a seat near the stereo system.  
  
While he was sipping a sports drink, Raijin came in and talked to Fujin for a moment. Squall tried not to listen in on their conversation, since just as he hated to have people sticking their noses in his affairs; he hated to have other peoples affairs packed on him. "LEAVE!" Fujin barked, her rather unique voice echoed in the empty ballroom. Is she upset about something? Just don't ask, and don't care stupid. She might like you now, but she'd be long gone tomorrow or some day. She's no one special. Squall thought to himself.  
  
Taking a long warm shower at the end of the day was a ritual for Fujin. It was during these precious 35 minutes and 24 seconds that she could truly be herself. Every word, movement and expression was just a mask. It was uncomfortable to wear all day long, never for a moment relax, always alert, always... afraid.  
  
Turning off the water, Fujin reached out from behind the shower curtain, fumbling slightly after her towel. It had taken her a while, but she did find out it was smarter to dry yourself up inside the shower rather than outside. That way, she didn't get goose bumps all over her skin as soon as she popped her head outside. Wrapping herself up closely in her egg yellow towel, Fujin stepped out of the shower and looked at the mirror. It was all foggy due to all the steam in the room and a human skin coloured blurry spot looked back at her.  
  
Placing her left palm flat on the mirror, Fujin stood like that, leaning over the sink for a moment. Another moment past and she furiously rubbed the mirror's fogginess away. The surface was still moist, but at least now she could see herself clearer. She looked around, worried if someone was around to see her or even worse, hear her.  
  
After she'd make sure she was alone in the bathroom, she faced her reflection again and removed her eye patch. Her synthetic eye glared back at her from the mirror. Putting her hand over her real eye, Fujin played around a bit with her synthetic eye, switching vision modes; infrared, thermal, electromagnetic and default. "Wh-wh-o a-a-aaaare yyy-y-y-yyyy-ou?" She said with quite an effort, sounding very different from her usual self. Poking the chin on her reflection, Fujin looked at herself with both eyes open. "FUJIN?" She asked the mirror.  
  
"I'm NOT kidding! He came in to my dorm room! Honest!" Some girls entered the bathroom with a loud bang. They seem to ignore Fujin's presence all together and happily gossiped. She watched them from the corner of her real eye as she put her eye patch back on. "Listen Lisa, there is no way, I say again, NO WAY Squall Leonhart was in your room." Another girl said, washing her hands. "He came to see Fujin." Lisa pouted, since her so-called friends didn't buy her story. Suddenly the gang noticed Fujin and a strange silence filled the room.  
  
Going back to her usual self, Fujin gathered her things and left the bathroom. Just as she reached the door, she could hear the gang whisper about love rumours between her and Squall. She wanted to tell them that it wasn't like that. They were just... what were they? Did they have this thing called love?  
  
"Afternoon Fujin." Seifer greeted her from where he stood, just next to her dorm door. Fujin swallowed nervously and choose not to reply. "What? Embarrassed while wearing a towel? We're friends Fujin, no need to be ashamed." Seifer cleverly remarked. "NERVOUS." Fujin said finally, closing the door behind her quietly. "Oh yeah? About what?" Seifer half shouted, since the dorm doors were nearly sound proof.  
  
A magazine caught his interest and he started flipping through the pages at random. "TEST." Fujin replied honestly while struggling with her bra. She personally hated this piece of clothing and she really envied men for not having to go through this hassle several times a day. "Ah, don't sweat it Fujin. You'll make a clean cut, beating the crap out of those weaklings." Seifer assured her while reading an article written by a certain Laguna Lorie (whomever that might be) with half interest.  
  
Fujin took a pause, with her t-shirt half way over her head. For the first time she wondered how the exam would be rated. They danced as a pair, yet they had different dances to perform. Would there be one judge or several, like a jury? Perhaps it would be more like a GF hearing? Then they gave you a given GF and a panel of instructors asked you out about the GF. But this was a practical exam, much like a field exam. "Just give it your best Fujin. No one is asking anything more of you." Seifer said, putting the magazine away before he left.  
  
Squall couldn't sleep. He'd tried everything, read a book, read a magazine, do push-ups, do sit ups, walk around like a zombie and drinking a glass of water from the wrong side of the glass. On a closer thought, he realized that the latter was for hic-ups, not lack of sleep.  
  
Frustrated to no end, he decided to go for a walk. Perhaps some fresh air would clear his head. Since it was 05:15, all sections were closed, aside from the training grounds. He wasn't in a mood for a fight and he'd forgotten to bring his Gunblade as well (damn thing was too heavy to drag around at 5 in the morning anyway).  
  
Quistis once mentioned that there was a secret area inside the training area, a place where students met after curfew. In theory it all happened in deep secrecy, but still everyone knew about it, even Squall. "Fine, fine... I'll check it out." Squall muttered to himself and turned on his heel.  
  
He had to run away from a few monsters, but Squall eventually got to the secret area and the place was... crowded. He immediately noticed why he'd never been here before. Everyone was talking in pairs and even Squall, who was lacking a great deal of emotional insight and understanding, figured that all these people were lovers.  
  
Still, the night scenery was quite a sight to behold, with Garden off at the edge of the horizon, glowing a cold blue light, yet shimmering with homey warmth that every SeeD knew. A large and pale looking full moon floated amongst the clouds, calmly watching over the lovers. Even the rhythmical humming from the training ground fans was relaxing and fitting to the scene. After all, the secret area was nothing more than a platform holding large air fans up and it was originally for technical staff only, but since a few of the technicians grew fond of both the scenery and the female students... it became a public access area.  
  
Making his way to the edge and leaning on the fence, Squall let the chilling breeze sweep his face and play with his hair. He needed a haircut he thought to himself. "Squall?" Someone asked in a small voice. Oh great... no privacy whatsoever. Why did I even leave my room? He cursed mentally as he tried his best to ignore whoever was calling him. "Are you waiting for someone?" The voice asked again. Suddenly, Squall heard some mumbling and the pairs that used to be far too buys with their own... lovey-dovey talk tip- toed out and closed the door. "Can't I be left alone, just once?" Squall asked, still not turning. "Why I'm here is non of your god-damn business, understand? Follow their example and sod off." It was harsh and he knew it, but it worked every time. If shutting people out of his life kept his emotions from being hurt, he'd lock himself up and swallow the key. "I am sorry, really. I am so sorry. I just... did not know and was.... Well, surprised." The voice said. Whoever it was, she sure sounded like a shy and skinny little girl, Squall thought.  
  
He drew a mental image of how she'd look like, but he didn't turn. If he did, it'd be a sign that the conversation had caught his interest, his curiosity rippling. "I don't want to hear your lame excuses and before you ask, no, I don't have a girlfriend and NO, I don't want one either. Not tonight, not tomorrow. I'd only like to have a girlfriend the day after I'm dead, and even then, it wouldn't be you." He said as coldly as he could, rising from the fence. Turning, putting his hands in his pockets and looking down on the ground, Squall left the girl before she could recover from his reply and make one of her own. Left alone in the secret area, looking at the door Squall had just closed, Fujin bit her lower lip, her throat hiking with sobs as she painfully closed her eye and a single tear got pressed out.  
  
The big day was here at last. Squall usually stayed cool as chunk of ice whenever there was a test coming up. Spinning around like a headless Chocobo in a state of total panic not only looked silly, but also it was a complete waste of time and energy. Still, this was the first "dance test" he'd ever taken, not to mention that he had to depend on a partner in order to pass. Dancing and relying on another person, two things Squall was sure he'd never do for the rest of his life.  
  
This would have to be the one and only exception, but was it really an exception? After all, there was no way he could become a SeeD unless he showed some sense of teamwork, on a teacher-student basis at the very least. As long as it remained strictly professional, there could be little harm in it, right? He'd had to be careful not to let them in too close of course, but that was more like a reflex and habit for him now, so it shouldn't be a problem.  
  
Fujin sat on her bed, looking at the dress that she wanted to wear at the dance test. It hung on the cloth closet door, just waiting to be picked up. Until last night, she'd looked forward to wear it, almost like a little girl looking forward to Christmas Eve, but now... now things were different. She glanced outside her window, it was getting dark outside, the lower part of the horizon hissing with a purple red colour, fading into yellow and then darker and darker blue. Since nearly everything in her room was white and the lights were on, the window functioned very much like a mirror. "FUJIN." She said to the window, her refection following her movements perfectly. I am and always will be... no one, no thing... just another face in the crowd. The mental conclusion surfaced in her mind. What was the point? Who was she trying to fool? Herself? Everyone? No one? Cruelty of reality had slain her dreams once more.  
  
Phasing around wasn't something Squall used to do, since he was hardly ever nervous (and the few times he were, he kept his feelings under lock and key), but this was an exception. He felt excited, thrilled, nervous and afraid at the same time. It was all very confusing. The clock was ticking and Fujin still wasn't anywhere near to be seen. Not that Squall knew much about girls, but he did know that for whatever reason, they all seem to use ages on the bathroom. Then again, Fujin wasn't your average girl so perhaps she didn't spend much time? "Well Squall, better get your woman because we'll be starting in 5." Sensei said as he led what seemed to be the jury into the ballroom. He was right, for once Sensei was right. Squall tried to haggle a little more time, but the jury had come from the dancing academy in Deling City and they needed to catch the train back without delay. Muttering curses under his breath, Squall angrily stomped off to Fujin's room.  
  
Manners flew out the window as he stood and literary hammered away at Fujin's door. "FUJIN! We've got a test to take! C'mon! We don't have much time!" Some girls glanced into the room since his yelling could be heard far out in the hallway. Glaring at them coldly sent them a clear message to mind their own business. There was still no answer and the door remained locked. Squall hadn't been this frustrated in years. He stomped around, pulling his hair and busting his brains out, trying to find a way to get through to Fujin. Talking to her was out of the question, since he hated talking to people and time was running out.  
  
Another glance at the clock on the wall and Squall made up his mind. A direct charge was needed, since circumstances didn't allow anything else. With all his might, Squall sent his right foot, sole down, smack into Fujin's door. Pain crippled and crawled through his nerve system like thin little threads. The dorms doors where just as kick-down proof as sound proof. That was no excuse for giving up though. A second and third try didn't produce any satisfying results, but the forth one went through.  
  
The doorknob had hit a mirror that stood behind the door so hard that the mirror had broken into dozen of pieces. Cracking sounds of glass breaking sounded as Squall cautiously entered the dark room. "Fujin?" He almost whispered. Some clouds slid aside revealing the moon on the sky and letting only the faintest of moon light shine through the window. With her back facing Squall, Fujin stood looking out the window, like a ghostly statue, hidden in shadows. "...Sorry about the door." Squall said sounding a bit embarrassed. There was something about the mood and feel of the room that just screamed that something wasn't right.  
  
The moonlight faded away as a dark cloud hid the moon's pale face. "We'll flunk if we don't show up soon." He said after a while. Fujin remained silent. He knew it, he'd known it for years and this was just another painful reminder. She'd left him, just like sis. Damn it, how could he become this careless?! "You know, whatever... screw the whole thing. Dancing was your dream, not mine. I'll just have to retake a class next year." The pain twisted around in his heart like glowing needles as he spoke. This feeling, he'd tried so hard to avoid it and yet here he was, stuck with it once more. Next time someone asked him for a dance, he'd cut her down with his Gunblade, no matter how white, pure and angel like she might be. Turning on his heel in disgust, Squall left and slammed the door hard.  
  
Squall didn't return to the ballroom to explain to Sensei what had happened. He wanted to be left alone, now and forever. Never again, he agreed with himself. For the rest of the school year Squall would devote himself to burning every social bridge there might be in his life. There was a knock on the door, but he ignored it. "Squall? Sensei is looking for you." It was Quistis muffled voice that came from the other side of the door. He didn't answer her. "Squall, are you there?" Quistis was quite persistent, he'd give her that much. It sounded like someone else entered the common room and talked to Quistis before silence followed. Squall was a bit curious, but he remained motionless on his bed, starring at the ceiling, yet not really looking.  
  
The door lock made the familiar clicking sound when it became unlocked and the door slowly opened. "Let's go Mr Leonhart." Xu said from the doorway. Possible scenarios flashed through Squall's mind as he got out of bed and reluctantly followed Xu's wake. He'd be taken to headmaster Cid to explain himself on why he'd failed the test, he'd be taken to the discipline committee to explain his behaviour in Fujin's room or Xu would just arrange a private heart-to-heart dialog between student and instructor to sort things out, completely off record. Either way, Squall had a lot of talking to do and he hated it.  
  
They reached their destination, which wasn't the discipline committee's office, headmaster Cid's office nor Xu's office. It was the entry hall to the ballroom. "Be a man Mr Leonhart." Xu said, nudging her head sideways towards the double doors. Taking one doorknob in each hand, Squall pulled the large double doors open and inside was an almost complete darkness, only some dozen candles on stakes lighted up the room. Frowning, Squall hesitantly walked into the large room and Xu quietly closed the doors behind him.  
  
Standing still for a few moments so that his eyes could adjust to the dim candlelight's. Sound of feet in high heels click-clacking across the floor caught his attention. He turned, blinking and nearly stunned at the sight. Fujin was dressed in a beautiful, yet plain black dress. It had a long cut along her right thigh, straps over her shoulders, a plain, yet fitting black necklace tight around her neck and the same black high-heeled shoes she tired out some weeks before. "SORRY." Fujin said in a barely audible voice. He thought for a moment before he straightened himself, held out his right hand, palm facing upwards and asked her: "May I have this dance?"  
  
Although there weren't any music, let alone any jury to judge and evaluate their dance, Squall and Fujin danced with grace and beauty. They weren't dancing for good grades, they were dancing for their own sake.

Rear-view  
  
I decided to call this section rear-view rather than the standard "author's note"(hey, I'm being original! Oh, I'm so good! Ragnarok would be so proud if he saw me now ). At any rate, this is where I'll toss in my comments on the story you've just read (and enjoyed I trust...? stands with baseball bat in hand), why I did this and not that and... some other stuff. Yeah, so lets get going then, shall we?  
  
Why I wrote this thing: It was at www.fanfiction.net that I noticed a fan fic about FFVIII (DUH!). Now, the point is that somewhere along the story (which wasn't all that bad) Squall said to Rinoa that he learned to dance when they first met at the ball (or party or whatever. You get the idea). For some reason, that sounded wrong to me. I mean, Squall has to be one fast learner in order to pick up a whole dance in a matter of... 2 min? Okay, granted, it might be possible, but I still didn't like the sound of it, so I decided to make my own version of it. As I speculated and toyed with the idea, Fujin came to mind. Noticing that Squall's dancing skills are a bit... rusty when Rinoa drags him along (which is so hilarious BTW), I decided to put the story a few years into the past.  
  
Typos & grammar: English isn't my main language (though its on a good second, as you might have noticed by now), hence there will be some typos and grammar errors scattered about. I try to keep them down to a minimum, but I fear that they'll always be around in my fan fics (unless someone bother's to hunt them down that is). If you think this is bad, you should read my Japanese writings. Now THEY suck.  
  
Quistis & Squall: Quistis is still a SeeD candidate though a very promising (and damn good looking) one. True, she grew up perhaps a bit too fast, hence she acts like she does in the game. Though I'm sure that at some point she was a half clumsy girl with a crush on Squall. It is this Quistis I'm trying to show you, not the mature-slightly-confused-big-sister version of the game.  
  
Fujin & Squall: Why Fujin? She's not even a hot looking babe! She might not be hot (and that all depends on your own personal taste, so I won't really argue), but I find her very interesting for two reasons: We don't know much about her We get to know only tiny teasers about here during the game Unlike Squall, it's the LACK of things we know about her that makes her interesting. Squall is also interesting, but only because we get so deeply under his skin during the course of the game (well, there might be more to it than that, but I'll leave it at that).  
  
Xu & Squall: To me, Xu is just as old (or slightly older) as Ellone. During the game, she'd be like 22-23 years old, while in this fan fic she's more like 18 and a freshman as a SeeD instructor. I needed someone to take Quistis place as Squall's instructor and I wanted it to be someone whom we all knew (not just some random dude like that dork Anakin).  
  
Squall: Everybody's favourite loner (well, at least mine) is having quite an inner struggle. Granted, it's not anywhere NEAR the dimensions and drama of the original story, but... What I'm trying to show here is how Squall dragged himself through puppetry and staying true to his promise to sis (he'd be okay on his own) at the same time. Confusion and denial, it seems so wrong, yet it seems so right. Oh what lady, oh what a night. Yeah, I know... not the best idea in the world, but screw it. I'm having fun writing.  
  
Sensei: The Japanese word for teacher/mentor and more of a title than an actual name, I wanted him to be a comical relief, but found it unnecessary. Squall & Fujin produced enough humour on their own, so his role faded away to nothing.  
  
Lisa: Just like Quistis has her "Terpie's", Squall has his group of fans as well, with Lisa in the lead. Of course, being a cold-hearted loner, Squall treats them like shit. I wonder why they keep on coming back for more?  
  
In between the lines: In case you're either perfectly ignorant to symbolism or just don't bother to look for it, I'll point them out for you and what they mean. Since the whole FF saga is Japanese, I use a lot of typical Japanese symbolism in my fan fic, since it can also be found in the original game:  
  
Many experienced readers will be aware that girls and women are often associated with the Moon and lunar cycles. A full moon tends to be symbolic of full femininity, and an awakening of womanhood, a growing into a young adult from formerly childlike innocence. Another aspect of this symbolism deals with clouds covering the Moon or the Moon changing phases. Clouds covering the Moon often indicate the troubled heart of a girl striving to grow into womanhood, or some other dire circumstances that are of great importance to her. If the clouds pass and the Moon is once again revealed, this can indicate the revelation of the girl's true heart, completely open and easily hurt at that point, but also her opening and growth into the world of full womanhood and adulthood.  
  
First used in this fan fic during the secret area scene  
  
First used in the game during the ball FMV (as related to Rinoa, though the moon in the landing FMV (Squall's field exam) can be linked to Squall as in him growing to become who he'll be for the rest of his life, a SeeD)  
  
Water is often symbolic of girls and women, as well. This includes rivers and lakes, as well as reflections. Reflections also bring up mirrors and the symbolisms associated with them for portraying a young girl coming of age. Reflections, whether in water or in mirrors, are often considered the bane of a girl's existence. The reflection doesn't lie -- it shows the girl as she is, and many young girls wind up striving to achieve some type of 'perfect image' in their reflection. Also, reflections are reversed images -- which is real, then, the original or the reflection? Reflective surfaces such as mirrors or water are often thought of as doorways into the images and worlds they show... again, which is real, the 'original' or the reflection? Who can tell, really? During adolescence, and even beyond, many girls and women find themselves fighting a battle with their own image or reflection -- it can cause them a great deal of stress. After Squall leaves Fujin in the secret area, we learn that Fujin starts to cry due to his cruel words... again, we see her as the wobbly, sensitive personality she really is, inside, and gets this vision by seeing her through the medium of water (this time, the tear in her eye.)  
  
First used in this fan fic during Squall & Fujin's lift lesson on the beach  
  
To my knowledge, this symbolism isn't used in the game  
  
Using a person's first name indicates a great deal of familiarity, closeness, and intimacy. If you notice someone going to first name basis, it tends to indicate a great deal of familiarity and intimacy -- in other words, being a couple, or perhaps long-time friends such as anyone from Edea's house (of course, no one remembers 'cause of the GF junction). Makes you wonder where Fujin really stands amongst her teachers and why.  
  
First used in this fan fic when Squall haggles (or tires to) with Xu regarding his timetable  
  
Not used in the game, since they move on first name basis from the first dialog to the last  
  
Spacing: Heaven knows why the people at www.fanfiction.net are so touchy about spacing. Personally, I hate those damn 2 line paragraphs when reading a story. I wonder what those guys do when reading a book? Aside from children's books, I don't think there are that many that containing just 2 lined paragraphs. Anyway, I changed the chapters and as you might notice, chapter II is still "screwed." Don't ask me why, it just is. Tried to change, replace and edit it 12 times. All the other chapters could be changed with hardly any effort, but not chapter II. Learn to live with it and if you can't do that, copy the chapter into Word and space it out for yourselves. Now how hard can that be?  
  
Thanks to: Boys, girls, readers & reviewers at www.fanfiction.net for their feedback Eden for her espresso suggestion for Squall, much valued second opinions, advices and suggestions (she's my unofficial co-writer/pre-reader, so don't mess with her or you'll mess with me as well) Squall at for actually daring to post my fan fic at his site (got ourselves a brave young man right there) SquareSoft/Enix for making the wonderful world of Final Fantasy VIII and casting it with such fascinating characters Mom and dad for having the nerve to set me loose on life  
  
Legal disclaimer: Such a bore, but here we go (don't wanna get sued y'know); I don't own Final Fantasy VIII (no matter how much I'd like to). It's cast, character design, world, locations, items, music, and generally speaking the whole shebang (aside from a few so-called "original" characters and locations placed in this fan fic by me) belongs to Square-Enix. Hats off for you guys, and keep 'em high quality games coming if you please. 


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